Affordable Porsche book review

It takes a lot to make this cross but a book that landed on my desk the other day really got my hackles up.

It’s called The Affordable Porsche and is published by Haynes, so I had high hopes of it. After all, Haynes has a good reputation and I’ve long advocated that Porsche ownership should be affordable.

However, the more I read the book, the more it annoyed me. The laddish writing style grated but I could just about cope with it. What I couldn’t handle, though, were some of the sweeping statements. Here are some examples:

“The 911 was made from 1963 to 1996′ Er, then what are all those new cars in Porsche dealerships, then?

“A left-hand drive car is 25% cheaper in the UK.” Not for the last couple of years they’re not, since the value of the euro encouraged Continental buyers to snap them up.

And that’s just a couple of many.

The author suggests buying a Porsche with no service history if you want a bargain. Now, I can see his point here as a car with no history will usually be worth less. However, his argument for doing so is because garages are dishonest and therefore any service history is not worth much – even from a Porsche dealer. I’m sure all the hard-working Porsche specialists I know would be offended by that.

The book also says that a 911 from the 1970s is the most affordable option and that body and engine repairs can be done at home. Now, these cars are often very rusty and have a complex body structure that isn’t easy to repair, even if you are handy with a welder. An apparent bargain can turn out to be very expensive.

Oddly, the 993 is included as an ‘affordable’ Porsche but the newer 996, which you can pick up for less than a 993 and is the bargain of the year, doesn’t even get a mention.

What makes me angry is that this book has a tempting title which will encourage people to buy it and then unsuspectingly buy a totally unsuitable Porsche that could end up costing them dearly in the long run. And that will then sour the ownership experience for them and maybe even put them off buying another 911.